You're Breaking My Heart

Did you know there are 613 commandments (mitzvahs) in the Bible?
I mean specifically in the Torah or 'the Law.' 
So, not just those BIG 10 we hear so much about!


There are 365 negative commandments or 'Thou shalt nots'
(said to correspond to the 365 ligaments of the human body)
AND
248 positive commands or 'Thou shalts.'
(said to correspond to the 248 organs of the human body)


Everyday I get several emails from Chabad.org, which is an an orthodox rabbinic Judaism educational organization.  One of those emails is the daily mitzvah, which includes at least a negative and sometimes a positive commandment, so low & behold, in a year I get the whole schmear.  


Today's particular bit was on proper weights and measures, from Leviticus 19:35-36, which is essentially the opposite sides of the same coin... a negative and a positive commandment in one - a Twofer.
    "You shall do no unrighteousness in judgement; in measure, in weight or in land measure"-Lev 19:35
    "Honest balance, honest weights, an honest dry measure and an honest liquid measure, you shall have"-Lev 19:36


Consider that Mosaic Law is essentially the basis of much of Western civilization and here is a prime example. The little sticker on the gas pump that says the pump pumps a gallon when the pump says it pumps a gallon (certifying it is an honest liquid measure) is essentially compliance with a law derived from Leviticus 19:36.  In the final read, it just makes sense for good society, fair practice and decent treatment.

Now the reformer/empowerment manager in me says what's up with 613 rules!  Not to mention the read backs and additional policy interpretations contained in the Talmudic Law where the Rabbis expound on the 613 commandments (plus 7 more later rabbinic commandments).  This was done in several volumes called the Mishnah and Gemara, which make up the 'oral law' considered the completion of the commandments, by which essentially every application of a commandment is addressed. Now, just for fun let me tell you there are 6 orders of the Mishnah with 7-12 tractates each for 63 total.  A full set is about a grand for the cheapies and consists of 44 large volumes. Plus there are all kinds of commentaries to explain these further rulings on the rules. The particular email I get each day from Chabad.org (except of course the Sabbath! [that would break a rule]) entitled 'Daily Mitzvah' is an expounding of the expounding by the Rabbi of Rabbis Maimonides known as 'the Rambam' or Abū ʿImrān Mūsā bin Maimūn bin ʿUbaidallāh al-Qurṭubī ( ابو عمران موسى بن ميمون بن عبد الله القرطبي ) if you please!   But the point is this, more rules to follow - not less.  

How bout this, back it up a bit to the big ten... #8 thou shalt not steal... (Exodus 20:15 / Deuteronomy 5:19). That contains the honest weights deal doesn't it?  Or even better, back it up to one of two, 'Love your neighbor, as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18/34, Luke 10:26, Mark 10:31) or said another way 'As you'd have men do you, do unto them' (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31) --- Matthew records the Christ further saying, "for this sums up the law and the prophets.'


Christ reminds us of that one great command to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your power... (Deuteronomy 30:10, Luke 10:27, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30)


See, in the end Christ understood the human heart as only its Creator could:
Genesis 6:5 "every inclination of the human heart was only evil..."
Deuteronomy 8:14 "then your heart will become proud and forget the Lord..."
Jeremiah 17:19 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
Proverbs 20:9"Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?"
Matthew 15:8 "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
Mark 7:21 "For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come"


It is this corrupt heart that we make more rules for... like children, or employees, or citizens (if people of this age are called that anymore), who take a rule and bend the words and their meanings for our own aims and purposes to achieve the evil of our own hearts.  So we write more rules in an attempt to maintain some semblance of order, when the problem is not the outward action - but the inward condition.  The rules then become the god of our worship and adoration, perverted in the understanding of how life should be lived we blindly wander.


In Luke 11, the Christ confronts some keepers of the Law who are appalled when He fails to wash His hands before dining.  He says it better than I can... " v³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness."  Just in case you want to get too far down on the Pharisees or law keepers, just  do this - think of the last time someone broke a rule or social norm and you judged them for it.  Truth is - we are the Pharisees, we are the law keepers, the worshipers of the law - the bad guys in this story... and Christ is always the hero!


This same Lord-Creator---God made flesh in man called Yeshua (some today call Him GeezUs not to be confused with HeyZeus) is the Christ- the Messiah - the Annointed One - what's that mean- just like His name translates - "He saves!"  See, because of this claim - His claim, now our claim - that He is God with us those same law keepers were so offended - so outraged - so provoked, that in worship of their god 'the law' they sacrificed the Lamb of God who fulfilled the Law of God perfectly for all who would have His heart as theirs.  


At Calvary, they hung Him up on a Cross to die and God the Father laid the sins of the world (all the times mankind failed at keeping the Law) on God the Son who had kept the Law completely and then something amazing happened... that sin and the judgement due you and I for it was conquered through Christ's death and by the power of God Himself in Him His resurrection from the grave.  Now here's the best part, He promises that all who believe and proclaim as such will have not just redemption from the judgement due them for that sin, but also then within their hearts the Holy Spirit of God to teach them, guide them, and direct them - even to renew and restore them to God.


The Bible says it like this...


Deuteronomy 30:6 "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."
Deuteronomy 30:14 "No, the Word is very near you, it is in you mouths and in your heart so you may obey it."
Ezekiel 36:26 "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
John 1:14 "And the Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Romans 5:5 "And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
Romans 6:17 "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance."

Follow the call of Joel 2:13 
"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity."


Whether, Jew, heathen, or Believer...
stop worrying over the outer displays of so called lawfulness and self-righteousness - religion will not save or sustain you. Break the inner hardness of your heart against the Father - run to Christ and live in His love for you and others - His grace is sufficient to redeem and keep us.

“Discounting the Cross at Christmas”

{...proof that leftovers never go bad - this was written 12/17/10 - but trust me it's still hot...}

Under the heading of ‘books I’ll never write’ comes an interesting thought that gave me an ironic chuckle today as an ad from a local store came across my Facebook feed. Apparently there is a great sale on crosses, 20% off for the 6th day of Christmas. You should rush on down today if you know the place I’m talking about, I know my wife may well get one more for her wall. So this is not a knock on them, but the premise of my funny chuckle (funny~sad, not funny~ ha-ha). Here’s the sad little irony that I am convicted of at my very core~ that the discounting of the Cross to ‘make a sell’ or to ‘get them in the door’ is all too prevalent in our ‘Christian’ culture, our personal practices, and our churches. We make it cheap and easy, for our own purposes and comfort. There is no time that this is more apparent than at Christmas.

It’s nice and enjoyable to shop for gifts [not really], give gifts, get gifts, have parties, prepare pageants, sing carols, eat food, have time off, see family, enjoy Christmas classics, etc., etc. It’s even a nice thought to be a culture warrior and fight for the ‘meaning of Christmas’ by demanding we say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays OR to have long and loud discussions about why the Nativity scene is just fine for the government grounds OR why it’s ok to sing Silent Night in the school program [although this is all a bit misguided]. It’s especially a good concept to take that Christmas angel for a kid who otherwise might not get a gift or to donate to a worthwhile cause to relieve some suffering or meet some need. But if we are honest with ourselves, we do all this for ourselves and to our own benefit.

Where’s Jesus?... kind of like Where’s Waldo? Can we look into all this chaos and all this clutter to find Him? And even if we do, is it this placid little 8lb baby Jesus laying in the manger come as a blessing to give us some self-exalting sense of kindness and mercy to our fellow man that we are seeing this Christmas time? OR will we somehow have a genuine encounter with ‘the’ Jesus as Christ the Lord.

Our family is working on Luke 2:11 as a memory verse this week… “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [ESV].” Maybe its me, because I am always asking but WHY, for WHAT, HOW COME? The answer is there, He is come to be our Savior – this Word of God, Son of God, God in the flesh come to live as us and die as one of us, but even more to bear on Himself the very punishment and judgment which we are due for our failures. I think we enjoy and like the 8lb baby Jesus lying in a manger, because it’s neutral, it’s nice… there is nothing there but what we might choose to imagine for it. Baby Jesus doesn’t command our attention, nor does He cause any concern or place any expectation on us. But, don’t miss that He is Christ the Lord – NOT that He came to claim that as a title or become that in His life or even ours, but that He IS that. HE IS CHRIST THE LORD!

This is the mistake many of His ‘followers’ made while He was with them. He could attract massive crowds with the miracles and revolutionary words. Everyone was in when it was nice… comforting words, needs met and being fed~ everyone was in. But never forget that when He revealed His purpose, when He said clearly what He was all about, and what He wanted from folks - the crowds left offended. When He proclaimed His truest nature as God, they sought to and eventually killed Him for it. The cross is an offense to the unregenerate, it is a reminder of the death and judgment that each of us must face. Without the victory over this horrible end and salvation found in following Christ, the cross is a glaring obstacle to a life lived like we would please to live on our own, without Him. We would rather live a life denying that He is Christ the Lord than submit to idea that we might otherwise have to respond.

This is why Jesus came. This is why the baby was born and the shepherds celebrated. This is why foreign dignitaries travelled long and arduously into enemy occupied territory. This is why Herod killed every possible baby that could be this child of God. He is Christ the Lord, the promised Messiah, who Himself spoke this world into existence and will one day reclaim it in judgment. He is Christ the Lord, who reigns since before there was time and throughout eternity. Squish all that down into your otherwise bland little 8lb baby Jesus lying in a manger and tell me why Christmas isn’t just another pagan holiday made nice.

We live by the grace of a Holy and Righteous Lord who Himself suffered our worst passions and desires in the frail body of a man… taking on Himself in His last breath on this Earth the very judgment and condemnation due us. Before dying on that cross and even after His resurrection, He made it clear what He expected of those who are His people and would pass through judgment by His grace. He expects us to follow Him… past the manger, past the gifts, past the miracles, past the blessings, and right up to the cross. He expects us to live and proclaim this good news of salvation to ourselves, to believers, and to those who are lost and dead in their lives without Him. This gospel is who He is, why he came, and what we are to be about. Don’t discount the cross. Don’t even settle for a ‘reason for the season’ mentality. Live the gospel, knowing that it is surely not our good and kind deeds that commend us to Him, as if we were buying some discount trinket of faith. Rather it is His grace and mercy poured out on us giving us the very breath of life and the Spirit of God to redeem us. He is Christ the Lord. Live and proclaim as such.

Merry Christmas!

happy thanks giving

Is our thankfulness for what we have misplaced on the possession?  If these things were gone how thankful would we then be?  If you don't believe your thankfulness is about stuff, just think carefully as you claim thankfulness over some-thing today - what if I lost this thing?  We center our thankfulness on us & what we have.  If we were being honest, we'd just say "I'm glad I have _____." That's not really thankfulness, because it is dependent on the continued having of that thing or worse the hope not to lose it.

 *** Our thankfulness to the Provider should be regardless of the provision.

Any parent who has ever suffered the dreaded, 'I hate you' - because you would not give your child something they wanted, or worse had to take something precious away in the process of discipline, understands this distinction.  We are no less frivolous in our 'love' to the Heavenly Father.  Our thanksgiving is indeed dependent on what we have and what we think of it.

Today, as with each day the Lord chooses to give me, I am thankful that my right relationship with Him is based on Christ's love for me rather than anything I might ever have, do, or be.  True thankfulness arises from knowing we are provided for by One who loves us and a proper estimation of the fact we are provided for at all.  The truth is that when compared to Him, all those things are just things.  Those who believe and so rely are not possessors of so many momentary things to be lost and lamented, but possessions that have been saved and redeemed by The Eternal Creator.

The blessing from the King unto us, worship of Him, is true thanks giving.
The rest is gravy.

Mindstorm

The noise of the morning broke into my mind waking me enough to take that deep breath to clear my lungs and the sharp pain in my right shoulder and neck gave their usual reminders.  I rolled over slowly and laid my feet on the ground, knees arched up from the floor since it was just this thin mattress laid directly on the surface where I sat.  Coughing deeply and then gritting my teeth at the pain, I stretched my arms forward and upward until finally came the loud crack that meant I could at least begin to get up.

There’s messy, then there’s squalor, and then there’s this little one room bedroom apartment on the second floor of a government subsidized apartment complex that I have come to be in.  Walking to the window, still dragging my right leg a bit, I lean up on the window frame.  What’s left of the faded plastic blinds hangs in pieces from the several bits of string that used to hold the slates together in some form.  Looking out over the field where the sub-urban sprawl meets the broken land and further beyond to the dusty fields where crops of failure wither, I see what has awoken me.

Coming quickly across the horizon, almost like a wave is a massive grey wall of slanted rain pushing forth before it a brown cloud of frenzied earth.  I haven’t seen a storm like this in a long time, since I was a kid.  I can smell that fresh smell before a rain, when the rushing wind has pushed out that rotting odor of whatever was sitting around and left just the clean air.  I hear the howling yowls of the movement coming.  It won’t be long.

***

Thinking back, back into the recesses of my memory, I can still see her face – hear her voice.  We were driving down the road. “When will you be well.” She said. “You’re always sick.”

“I’m well.  Well enough,” I responded, ”I’ve only missed a day this week to this and it’s the first time in a while.  It’s like a storm – in my mind – like a fire, a little ember burning when you start a fire.  If I catch it early enough it’s not so much I can’t cope, but Wednesday I just couldn’t even think.”

I had forgotten my medicine the night before and this morning, I explain to her and that’s why it was starting up again.  “You know, since the doctor switched these pills up – I haven’t had a full blown headache – just these little storms.  I’ll take them before we leave tonight.”

We drove down the road a little further and my loving wife kindly said, “Ok. I just want you to be well.”

I didn’t tell her about the cramps anymore that day or that at one point it was so stiff, I couldn’t even turn my neck.  No, I didn’t tell her about the flashes of pain that shot from my neck to the center of my brain causing my hands to tremble with weakness.  Why should she worry?  You can’t stop the storm, not even the one that blows through your mind.

***

“Daddy, wake up.”

I try to focus on my daughter’s face, but I’m still not awake enough to see it clearly.  The details are so hard to see when you first come to.  It’s more of an impression, like the smudges of a Monet in low light.

I look back out the window.  The storm seems to be off in the distance enough.
***

“Why are you here?” He always asks questions.  He never gives answers.  He says I had the answers.  If I had the answers, maybe he should come see me instead of me coming to see him.

“I’m here because I am.” There take that – I opened the door, I walked in, I’m here.  It’s not that hard.

“No why are you… h e r e?” Like saying it slower and with more feeling is going to make your stupid point more meaningful. 

I look around his office a bit.  I’m sitting on a soft maroon sofa that comes up around and engulfs you when you sit down, like a big woman giving you loving embrace.  He’s got degrees on the wall – like that Masters of Arts means he’s got any idea what any of it means.

“I told you, I’m here because I have to be.”  Ok, there’s some ground.  I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be, would I?  I came, because if I didn’t then I wouldn’t be out – out here in this, this…

“What else…” he drops his hands from his mouth, where he’d been holding them up as I answered and sat in thought, as if to try to give me the cue to push words out myself.

“…because, I must be here to keep on… doing this… life thing. – I dunno, this is dumb.”  I cross my arms and pull my legs up under my like a five year old who just got told he can’t have a cookie.

“I understand, if it’s any conciliation.”  He leans forward as if he’s telling me a secret he wouldn’t even tell his mother, “I feel the same way.  I’m here because I have to be… but also because, I really do care about you.  I just want you to be well.”

We sit for about 30 seconds in silence, it’s not at all awkward though.  It is almost as if both of us are just waiting for the other one to be ready to continue. 

“Thanks.”  I am genuinely appreciative.  He doesn’t have to care and he does.

“Have you seen your daughter lately?” He asks, with tears welling up in his eyes.

“Yeah she walked over here with me.  She’s sitting in your lobby waiting on us to finish.”

A single tear falls from his eyes, but he doesn’t reach up to stop it.  He just stares at me with those deep gray eyes.  Reaching out from the chair he was sitting in, he puts a hand gently on my right shoulder.

“Does it still hurt?”  He asks as he pushes slightly on it.

“Always,” I say, which is only partially true.  Sometimes it doesn’t hurt, but then when the hurt is not there, I miss it, because where the hurt was it just feels empty.  No that’s not right, it just doesn’t feel – it’s empty – almost not there at all and that’s worse than the pain.

“Do you remember what happened?”  This is all starting to sound very familiar all the sudden, like I’ve had this conversation with him before.  Maybe a few times, maybe…

“Do you remember?” Of course I…  wish I could. I finally admit in a whisper, as if to myself, “No.”

 He wipes the tear off his face.  “I’m sorry.” he says

***

“Daddy, wake up!”

There’s a rush of wind across my face and I feel almost as if I’m flying through the air and then nothing.

I sit up quickly and there it is, the pain again.  Better the pain than nothing . 

***

We’re walking down the sidewalk, my daughter and I – talking about what Daddys and nearly teenage daughters talk about.   We’re walking to my appointment with the counselor again.  She’s always there on the days I have to go to the counselor – life is cruel like that sometimes. 

When her mother left, she just said, “You’ll always have her with you, as long as you want.”  Those words were a blessing and a curse.  My daughter always seems to be there when I need her the most, but she is always there when I can’t hardly stand to see her.  It’s like the pain, it is the pain.

***

“So, what do you want to talk about today?” This is a new tactic, he’s asking me to set the agenda.

“Ummm… how about man’s free will versus God’s sovereignty?” – I smile wryly. 

“Are you mocking me?” He asks as he adjusts his sweater vest, repositions his glasses and folds his arms.

As if to mock him properly, I grab the backside of my jeans and tug them up a bit and then tilt my ball cap sideways like a hip hop master, folding my arms dramatically full spread across to my elbows like, ‘Yuh, take that.’

“Me. Mock you, why no. I merely meant to suggest we might discuss…” I trail off a bit as my mind spins around.  I take a deep breath and try to calm myself.  I can feel the cramp in my neck trailing up to my head and down my shoulder.  I used to take meds, but I just don’t anymore.

“You ok?” He asks forgetting his indignation.  For being a real jerk, he is awful genuine.  I cringe at the pain and the storm I feel coming in my mind.  “Pain again, huh?  Let me ask you, I gave you medicine…”

“NO!” I stand up screaming, the pain thumping and pumping through my skull.

He smiles wryly.  “Do you know why you won’t take your meds?”

“I don’t like them.  They make me, tired.”  That’s only part of it, honestly I don’t really know why I don’t like to take them – I just don’t.  He leans back in the chair.  I sit down.  “Ok, why don’t I take them?” I ask.  “You tell me, do you know why you don’t take them.” he says – never any answers – always questions.

 “No.”  I slump as if defeated.  He keeps staring at me with those deep gray eyes.  “How old is your daughter now?” He asks.  “She’s not quite a teenager.  Not a child, but not a teenager yet.  That perfect age.”  I answer.  He frowns and insists, “How old is she… now?”

***

“Daddy, wake up!”

I open my eyes.  The light cripples them and so I blink them.  Something is pushing against my side.  I feel like I’m looking up into the sky, rolling over toward my left and instantly it’s like I’ve smashed into the floor on my right side.  Oh the pain…

***

“I’m sorry Daddy.” She looks at me with that woeful look that only a daughter can give a dad.

“What for baby.”  I stopped shuffling down the sidewalk and sit on a bench for a second.

“That you have to take me with you.” She stands as tall as I sit, looking me in the eyes. 

“It’s ummm… ok.  I like having you with me.  It makes it easier, I guess.”  I don’t tell her that she’s the only thing that keeps me going.  The only reason I even get out of bed at all anymore.  These walks, from my room to the counselor.  Our talks, all hours of the day and night.  The time I have with her, this is all I really have left.

“Daddy.  Do you think you’ll ever be well?”  She looks so sad as she asks me. 

A man walks by and stares for a brief second, we must be a sight.  Me looking like a complete bum not having shaved in weeks and wearing the same clothes most of the time and this little perfect darling.

“I just want you to be well.”

***

There he is staring at me with those gray eyes again.  Waiting for the answer to one of his questions.

“What was the question?” I smile and chuckle a bit.

“I asked if you were ready to talk about the accident?”  He looks frightened.

I must have blanked past part of this conversation, so I ask, “What accident?”

He really looks like something awful is taking place, he’s really pretty pale.  “We were just talking about how you got hurt.  How your daughter…”, he trails off.

“How my daughter what…?”, now I’m getting mad.

“Listen to me carefully.” He looks serious, more serious than I’ve ever seen him.  “I need you to trust me for this moment.”  He pauses and I nod back.  “Close your eyes.” OK-closed, I peak out of one a bit and then close them. “Quiet everything else and listen inside of you – what do you hear?”

***

“Daddy wake up!”

When I opened my eyes, I saw the headlights coming at me.  I blinked and felt the airbag explode, but I was already going through the side window.  I saw the car below me, maybe above me – and then I felt my right side explode into the pavement as I saw the car explode beyond me. 

In the months that followed the wreck, as I went through physical rehab and then they started sending me to the counselor – she was always there with me.   When I was going to be released, my wife came by that one time, just once to tell me that my daughter was going to stay with me forever. 

***

“What did you see?” and so I told him. “Listen to me carefully. Your daughter is not out in the lobby.  She was in that car.”

And like a storm, winds raging and waters pouring forth, the dry land forced before it, my mind – my soul was frenzied up like the earth stirred by the front of the rolling wave of what was inevitably coming.

“You were driving your daughter and you home from a trip to the city and you fell asleep at the wheel because of your headache pills.  You have to remember.  I can’t let you leave the hospital today otherwise – for your own safety.”

I look at him.  I close my eyes again and eternity passes in that moment.

“Daddy.  Wake Up!”

I open my eyes and there he is staring at me with those deep gray eyes.

“Well?”  He looks so serious.

“Well, what?” I say.  He stammers a bit, “Do you want to stay here or not?”

“Can my daughter stay with me?”

He looks at me, less seriously now, softly smiling.  “Yes.  I just want you to be well.”

****

[This is a story about me confronting one of the greatest fears any father has, that I might ever lose one of my daughters and somehow be directly responsible. It's pretty much based on my life except that critical accident just never happened.  The thought of it did as I drove home from the city with my sleeping daughter next to me in the car late one Saturday night after a very long day.  I asked myself how I would respond.  My heart and soul immediately ran away from the question.  So, I had my answer and this story.

We all have our fears, our pain and our hurts. We each try to hide them, even... especially from ourselves.  Healing requires that we confront that fear, that we confront that pain, that we experience the hurts else they become all that we have and drive us to places of unhealthy behavior, even madness.

My prayer for each of us is that the one true Counselor who confronts us both with Truth and in Love, the Holy Spirit, will lead us from these delusions we create to make our sadness seem bearable, so that He might help us find true healing in Christ.  This would be so much better than living trapped in the mindstorm of our lies.]

Multi-denominationalist

I AM...

... Baptist by profession.

... Adventist by expectation.

... Methodist in relationships.

... Pentecostal in worship.

... Pietist in daily living.

... Luthern in zealousness.

... Reformed in theology. 

... Puritan by confession.

... Presbyterian in governance.

... Calvinist by election.

... and most importantly --- Christian by faith.

The Perfect Set of Glasses

One of the official signs of getting older for most of us is that our eyes start to fade a bit and so our prescription for glasses needs to become a little stronger.  It's only been a couple of years since I last saw the optometrist, but my Rx sure has changed in that short time.  

Now let me let you in on a little money saving tip, buy your glasses from a discounter online - I use Zenni Optical.  In this most recent order, I got 3 sets of glasses for about $30 each.  The only downside is that you have to wait a couple of weeks or maybe a bit longer if the order gets held up in customs en route from Hong Kong.  Just be sure you put your Rx in exactly correct.

So as I started hunting for glasses, I began with a set of sunglasses.  Finding several pairs I kind of liked, I even put one or two in the shopping cart before deleting them.  Finally, I scrolled down and saw the pair that just absolutely blew me away - they were not just what I was looking for, but something more.  They were just plain awesome.  After this I decided I wasn't going to just settle for any pair of glasses I just 'liked', I really wanted to just be blown away.

There are a number of spiritual parallels to be seen and brought into focus here.  

Have you ever heard the term 'worldview'.  Basically this is how you see the world, more specifically the lens through which you look to observe and perceive what reality is.  The truth is that fallen humanity is incapable of seeing the world properly because of the damage done to our eyes by the sinful environment and what we have been exposed to.  We need glasses to help us better see the world as it is, the Bible is this lens of truth through which to evaluate and perceive the world.  

Why then would we settle for anything less than the right prescription in a spectacular set of frames?  If we water down the prescription by say cutting it in half instead, it's not as strong as it could be and might even distort our view to see improperly.  If we overdo it by adding something to it that is not prescribed, the same is likely to happen.  Both of these conditions are likely to cause headaches, dizziness, and confusion.  Of course I'm talking about life here as much as I am glasses.  Some folks take a handful of verses, generally out of context and craft their own glasses out of substandard materials they can find - leaving off what they think they don't need or just don't like.  Some folks add in a lot of traditions or religious practice in hopes to augment what is already exactly what they really need.  Where are you at on this?

Let's go one more, why would anyone settle for some so-so frames even with the right lenses?  I remember my Marine Corps issued black rim BCG (BCG=Birth Control Glasses)... wear them and they are a guaranteed birth control device.  Now the hip kids are wearing them thinking they look cool, I hate to tell them differently, so I just enjoy the chuckle (usually internally, but not always.)  Yet, every single day we settle for having lenses that are correct, but are set in lives that are sadly out of place.  Either we are so off compared to our context we are trying to reach that we just miss the connection mark completely OR we so contextualize ourselves to fit in that our message is lost in the din of cultural relevance. 

Alright, you still reading, well here's your bonus... Why spend more than you should?  The system is set-up to overcharge you for what shouldn't cost you that much.  The true price of a pair of glasses is about $25, at least that's what I pay.  The true cost of your relationship with God to be made right is more than you can ever imagine or even consider paying, but the awesome thing is - the price to be paid by you is zero.  The gift of eternal life and your being made righteous in the sight of God is the blood of Christ freely given to you.   Think about that for a second, God chooses not to see you as you truly are but rather through the lens of His Son Jesus Christ and accept you as you are now that you might be made perfect through that relationship -- let's call them Songlasses or seeing the world through crimson stained lenses.  Once you get this, I mean really get it, you will be overwhelmed by the Spirit led life rather than just satisfied with a so-so view of life through a generic set of glasses you've just settled for OR worse keep on trying to pay some hefty price you don't owe anyway.

Nothings and somethings...

Certain concepts, beliefs, and fields of study are essentially Nothings. They exist only as they are seen and given interpretive meaning. These words are nothings and so is the very concept they are meant to embody.

All of History is essentially a nothing. It secondarily expresses action based first on partial evidence, rather written records or oral accounts, each is partial and certainly not impartial. Consider any recent significant historical event, the JFK assassination, the Bush/Gore election, or even the twin towers. Depending on who you talk to these are very different events whose details are varied and meanings are muddled. As time passes and history is reinterpreted through more modern perspectives and changing social norms, the event is no longer the event. The History has become a nothing, existing only in the expression of it regardless if its actuality.

So in the framework of faith and theology, we find the epitome of the Nothings. Individuals creating from their own mind and perspective a conception of deity to justify their means and manner of existence. Rarely is this form based on any actuality, rather on personal desire to feel connected to something. There is a longing to fill some hole within the self with something greater, perhaps to convince ourselves we are more than nothing.

Faith is often defined as believing without seeing, but too many take it a step beyond and believe without thinking, without meaning, even without any basis on an actual existence. Hearing a partial and hardly impartial version of some particular religious and so-called spiritual expression, they 'apply' some 'profound' nugget of 'truth' to their life as they would choose and would lead them as they desire in themselves. Whether it is the yogi, the motivational speaker, the latest self help book, or even the sunday sermon ~ if your 'FAITH' is little more than some part of personal development for your own edification than it is essentially nothing. A made up version, self constructed from yourself to grant yourself some fools dream of a peace by a piece.

Here is our challenge... there exists a book which claims for itself to be the very expression of God about God. The Bible is either something we should consider very carefully with diligent study and extreme thought OR it is a nothing. Sadly too few accept the latter view without even a moment of consideration or concern. Nothing could be more foolish when something may be there.

Lo d'krkr

behold for all to see, 

just you just me, krkr's in the field are we, 

bangn it hard to be, some sort o' wealthy.. 

hard livn cuz life takes a toll- the fee, death ultimately... 

are we really ready...?

Lo D'Kraker... 

ignoring the fact of life - that the race he runs cannot be won.  

D'plor'n d'act o'strife... d'fac'n d'One who'sent His Son... 

snor'n away, he lack'd what we've embraced.. fo fun unta tha sun . 

bor'd today so he crack'd his wife not graced his hun, heart weighs a ton... 

krkr it ends badly for you... 

wha will you do?

Go strong go light be tough don't fight... 

be wrong act right go rough live tight... 

not long the light prolongs the night... 

it's com'n krkr... it's com'n krkr... 

one way or another your end is com'n krkr... 

ima make sho ya'll don't forget... 

ima make sho its all unpent... 

ima make sho it all gets spent...

its xmn krkr -  its xmn krkr  - the end is nearer than you believe... 

its time to mend your fear so you'll receive...

Store up to spend... your way defend... keep krkn... 

on yoself depend borrow don't lend... keep krkn... 

forget you've sinned just like all men'd... keep krkn... 

these words are penned remindn you of your end... keep krkn... 

fake smiles you've grinned as you descend... keep krkn... 

never thought ta mend what you have wren't hey krkr... stop krkn..

It ain't a'right, it ain't ok... you poor krkr...

you've got no sight, you've got no say.. you poor krkr... 

a sad sad plight, your sad sad day... you poor krkr... 

a bad bad fight, you gotta go away... you poor krkr... 

you're not right, gonna have to pay... you poor krkr... 

instead krkr... why not hold tight to the Way... Christ man... krkr! 

He's your Lord too you fool.  you poor krkr...

I understand you well krkr, cuz you're me... 

striving with yourself through this life for simple pleasure... 

angry when it don't go your way... who said it should?  

You mean mean krkr, hat'n e'ryone especially yourself. 

Try some love, try some grace, try given up on yourself.  

Lo D'Kraker ~ ended here.

Out in Left Field, Not Listening

May means softball... not just a little softball, ALL softball ALL the time...


I am 'helping' coach two teams.  My oldest daughter is catching on a 12 Under team coached by a softball masta (props to Steve Parker).  I am just glad to be around a dude that knows his stuff and learn more about the game an' coaching girls at this age.  The team is undefeated because of one simple thing, they listen and respond.  


They listen to this guy who knows his stuff, then do their absolute best to put it down like he says.  Yeah they've got talent (for the most part), yeah they've played together for a while and a lot (for the most part), BUT without listening and responding to what the coach is telling them, they will surely lose and worse not learn anything.  


Night and day then to the 8 Under team that is full of little girls who are for the most part completely unaware of the game happening before them, even as the ball speeds off the bat toward them.  Playing in the dirt, looking at mom & dad in the stands, picking their nose (or other places), and talking with the other little girls in the field.  Try making field adjustments as a coach with this crowd.  Yell as loud as you like, use the simplest terms possible, point, wave- jump up and down... maybe just maybe they look up and wonder, "What's up with that fool?"


So no wonder, as the hard corps little team with a real live pitcher ravages us, the little girl in left field cannot be reached.  She's in her own world fo sho, never to be seen again.  But then a miracle, as I am all but ready to start using a spot light or send up smoke singals via self-immolation, I say her name and she looks up... I tell her shift over right just enough to cover the huge hole that this next ball is gonna come down through.  


SHO NUFF, she moves!  SHO NUFF ball hit right to her... what was a home run slama just became a single.  Crowd goes wild. Little girl smiles. She knows, she did good.  Yeah they lost 10-2, so what!   I reached that one kid with the concept to hear the coach, do that thing, and make the play. Now we learn'n softball.


I - and you too, my friend - are standing out in left field ~ pick'n our backside, chattin it up, try'n to look just that cool while we whine about how bored we are.  You keep thinkin, "So what the board says we're losing, isn't this just a game we play'n?" 


What is that out of this world coach doing over there waving at us for.  What's He yellin' bout... move where? WHY?  --- oh that ball, ain't comin' my way, is it?  ...and what would I even do if they hit it to me?  I just signed up for the uniform coach-- when do we get some snow cones...? 


Get your head in the game, listen to the coach, and make some plays.  Now we're learn'n some Gospel.


A.W. Tozer  hit it out of the park with this one... 


"Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.” Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy Voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking Voice.  Amen."


(full bit on 'The Speaking Voice' --> here)

Against Christ

[an interpretive of "planning/knowledge" - one of three images displayed in 

the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, NC - see all three here]

The Dark Son is rising over the Kingdom of Man,

in scheming and devising, a way of control his plan.

With purpose to prevent the Lord's light from our sight,

an eclipse of descent, defeat without a fight.

A theory created to obscure Creator,

teaching the educated by wisdom to ignore.

All are so entangled, hope and freedom taken-

the empty heart strangled, as God is forsaken.

The rulers and the kings of this age bow their head

honoring earthly things forgetting what He said.

Their hearts rock hard with sin, they refuse to ever hear,

the word of grace to men, or believe He came near.

They discuss loftily as if they understand,

yearning so greedily to meet their soul's demand. 

Building up brick by brick a worthless empire here,

failing to see how quick that the end will be near.

A spirit against Christ, with self above all else-

a soul's worth poorly priced, when our sad payment fails.

Made to look like savior, to lead away the lost,

as peace but bringing war, giving freely at cost.

So to attempt to climb, to the heavens as if,

to grasp some lost sublime truth from history's myth .

A tiresome journey ending only in death

of the worshiped body, an empty temple left.

Building a monument for the acclaim of none

believing we are sent to do and to be done.

Stranded in the desert of will twisted away-

trying to avoid hurt and just live for today.

So this Dark Son stands, ready for destruction,

allegiance he demands to his false construction.

Anti-Christ this manner of our culture our world,

our name on the banner, a flag proudly unfurled.

Not of Christ, not the Lord - of us against His will,

living in full discord, believing the lie real.

Time is passing quickly, eternity does wait,

as our soul so sickly falls to what we call fate.

*****

Christ came from glory, to seek and save each one.

such a simple story about the One, true Son.

Whose sacrifice has claimed our judgement to be paid,

for those who will be named as one who Christ has made.

Do we remember?

<<THIS IS A BIT I WROTE ON THE 9TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11, BUT IT APPLIES WELL TO OUR RESPONSE AS A PEOPLE OVER THE ASSASSINATION OF OSAMA BIN LADEN>>

Let me warn you right now, you probably won't like what I am writing here.  I didn't like the thought when I first saw it, but it is a convicting thought.  Nine years ago yesterday our nation was attacked and inflicted with the terror of an enemy who could destroy the very security and freedom we as Americans value more than anything.  

As if it were encouragement then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle quoted Isaiah 9:10 which says: "The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars." (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/terror/articles/010914/misc/terror.htm)

And we are in fact rebuilding, the cornerstone for Freedom Tower was laid on July 16, 2004 and many are even angry that Freedom Tower is not yet complete.  That cornerstone is inscribed in memory of the fallen and "as a tribute to the enduring Spirit of Freedom."  The hewn stone is placed and we will rebuild it even higher so no one will ever forget that day and the American way of life.  Consider what George Pataki, then Governor of New York, said at the stone laying ceremony, "Let this great freedom tower show the world that what our enemies sought to destroy - our democracy, our freedom, our way of life - stands taller than ever before." (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/17/national/main624595.shtml)

In fact there was even a very large, very old sycamore tree which was made quite a thing of near ground zero.  A shard of metal pierced the tree and the blast felled it, but it protected a nearby church from damage.  The roots have been bronzed and placed at the church and the tree was replaced by an Arz Tree [literally 'Cedar of God'] (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30917FD3A550C758CDDAE0894DD404482)   

Now read the context of Isaiah 9:8-21.  It is really about the judgement of God against past Israel as a nation leading to their exile into Babylon.  They were attacked once as a warning and opportunity to repent and return to the Lord.  Their response is to say "in pride and arrogance of their heart" (v9:9) what is quoted in v9:10 about rebuilding the fallen stones and trees.  v9:11 says the Lord therefore raises up enemies of Rezin (firmness literally - historically a Syrian king) and joins all their enemies against them.

Little more... 

v9:13 "But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty."

v9:16 "Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray." 

Also consider the sentiment of the Builders at Babel... Genesis 11:4 "Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”  That ended the same way as past Israel's rebuilding project of Isaiah 9:10.  Also consider Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Isaiah 9:8-21 is a section about wrath / judgement against pride and arrogance.  I submit this not necessarily for its prophetic merit toward America, which is arguable.  Rather consider your own heart, is it like mine that swells with pride in America or worse in itself?  Do you stand for the Spirit of Freedom above all else... above even the Lord?  The American Spirit is one of rebellion and revolution, one of individual strength and power ~ it is natural for us to resist submitting to the Lord.   Where then are we placing our trust and what then are we giving our worship to ~ ourselves and not the Lord?  (re)Turn to the Lord.

Now consider Isaiah 9:1-7, (specifically v6-7) it is the fortelling of the coming of the Christ and his Reign on his return.  

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

Is Christ the Lord of your life?  Is He the Lord of our land?  Believe it or not - He is in fact Lord.

Overwhelmed by Grace...

A few weeks ago, a man on a stage at a conference asked the men in the room 'When was the last time the Gospel brought you to tears?."  A few days later, another man who doesn't run in that same group said on a podcast - 'When I consider what it means that the Lord chose to love me in spite of me, I am emotionally devastated.'  Last night, a pastor stood in front of the regular Wednesday night dinner study crowd and welled up full of tears as he uttered the words through a clinched throat, "When I think about what it means, what He has done for us..."  He, like the others was overwhelmed by grace.


Mathew 18:2-3 tells us, Jesus called to Himself a little child which he put him in the midst of the disciples gathered with Him and said, 'Truly I tell you unless you turn from your ways and become like little children you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.'


This is the Gospel then isn't it?  It's easy to miss the truth of the Gospel and go straight to a form of religious legalism in the idea that we must turn (or as some versions say, be converted).  That is to say, the first thing most natural minds tend to in these verses is what must be done or not done to accomplish some end.  What then does it mean to become like little children?  What then does it mean to turn from sin?  How then is this actually accomplished?


The truth of the gospel is actually found well before this, in the idea that Jesus calls to Himself a little child to set before them all as an example of what He intends to convey.  There is presumably nothing special about this particular child, EXCEPT that Christ Himself has chosen this one as an example to explain and display His message.


Are you with me yet?  For if you are a believer in Christ, let me tell you - YOU ARE THAT LITTLE CHILD - you were chosen by Christ to become an example of His teaching and work.  You have been set in the midst of the world as living breathing representation of what Christ means to convey.  Your only worth is found in this and thus your worthlessness (or unworthiness) otherwise is overcome.


Thus we are commanded, turn from our ways and to His that we might gain eternal life. This is grace then at work within the redeemed heart, called out by Christ for a purpose and given meaning.  The Gospel is not that we are perfect when we make some decision to turn or even perfected in our own manner by some self-help steps to turn.  Rather, we turn when He calls us and we follow His voice, we become in His eyes as innocent as a small child and grow then into His compassion and love.   Others instead ignore His calling and follow their own desires to their end.


If the idea that Christ has done this for you regardless of your failings and inabilities doesn't completely overwhelm you and even bring you to tears just about every time you consider it, I would dare say you haven't truly experienced the Gospel that brings conversion and life.  Just to check, what is it that makes you justified (right) before God?  If you persist in thinking it is something you do, let me assure you that you are going to come up short in the end and suffer deeply throughout.  If your redemption from sin is in anyway dependent on you, you are in big - big trouble.  If it is instead Christ who has provided your salvation, then you need no further assurance, knowing already that regardless of sufferings you are indeed His child.


It is not a childish faith that saves, but rather being a child of the One who does.  Christ left the glory and majesty of His eternal existence to live as a human being - like you and me.  He came to seek and save that which was lost - you and me.  He was crucified, receiving the condemnation for the sins of you and me.  He is risen from the grave, having overcome death and judgement due to you and me.  He reigns in Eternity where He will claim those who He has called and who believe on Him for their salvation proclaiming Him as Lord.  Me.  You?


Are you overwhelmed by His Grace?   I certainly am.

Serve Your Master